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Should Clinton give a speech about race?


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There's an argument to be made that Clinton should talk about race more than gender, to benefit society more than her campaign.
AlexKoppelman

22 responses // Should Clinton give a speech about race?

  • Oh now this is dumped on her too!
    jjmaster
  • I thinks all candidates should give their opinions specifically on ths point. It just seems sad to me that it took a scandal of sorts to really begin the media attention on this subject. Had recent situations not occured, the media would probably have given the issues of race very little attention, and that is an unfortunate reality, I guess.
    Egnatius212
  • I think Sen. Obama's speech on race done a lot, but I think it would be interesting to see Hillary's speech, since her black support has been dropping. With the Rev. Wright fiasco, she is in a good position to take the nomination.
    chipperd
  • What would she say? That people of color aren't experienced enough to be president? I would advise her to not give that speech.
    Marilynn_Murray
  • I remember the riots, it seemed like everything was on fire and of course as with anything like that there was looting. I will never forget at long as I live the Youngish black man in the middle of the street grabbing at people as they ran by with their new stuff begging them to stop and crying. He wanted so much more than a new TV, he wanted respect and dignity. He had my respect and all the dignity in the world. I hope he had the wonderful life he deserved.
    Marilynn_Murray
  • Although I don't think it would help, it'd be interesting on what she has to say. What could she possibly say?

    I think I agree along the lines of tikiman about what would she know. In Obama's speech, it was about this struggle between his white self, and his black self. These two identities and what they meant for him growing up in America.That was something that I found endearing. So here I am wondering what struggle that Clinton could speak on that would evoke thoughtful conversation on race relations in my community, amongst my friends and colleagues.

    I do think there is a view of what it means to grow up white in America and a lot of people shun that because it often is a privileged way of growing up. It in no way compares to grow up as a minority in America however there are issues within that. For her to bring that to the table would make her appear to be a Mad White Woman which is frowned upon. It's real but it's just not accepted. So, no. It is not necessary for her to speak on race relations. I don't think that's her field right now.
    MornRail
  • Obama started that, not Hill.
    JohnA
  • While it is not my intention to devalue anyone's experience, I don't think it is ever a wise decision to form opinions or make choices relying too heavily on our own experiences. Having said that, I would have to argue that while Hilary may not have the validating experience to comment on race, she does have a moral obligation to do so, and I think the real point the WSJ editor is making is linked more to that moral obligation than to her "experience."

    Experience, of course, is something Hilary has treated like her ace in the hole.

    Her refusal to comment on race relations, however, other than to use Rev. Wright as a weapon against her opponent, only further implicates her ambition as taking precedence over what her much touted experience should have taught her.
    recommended by  Marilynn_Murray
    Incredulous
  • she should speak on the entitlement that white people with power like herself all seem to feel & how black people aren't really worthy of equal treatment, even if they play the game perfectly like obama has done all his life.

    if we need 2 strangers to talk to the nation about "race issues" because individual citizens are too scared or close minded to do it themselves nothing that anyone says will ever make a real difference,

    Malcolm & Martin set it 40 years ago & no one seems to be honestly willing to live by their examples.
    recommended by  Marilynn_Murray
    blackdaylight
  • I would really like to hear Hillary talking about this ,but in a live speech without giving her time to have her staff making up a nice speech for her.
    I do not see why Obama has to constantly answer to question about race and Clinton can quietly keeping go after him making up any kind of lies without have to answer to any question.
    Why Obama has to be the only one put in the spot?
    recommended by  Marilynn_Murray
    samba
  • Clinton should talk about race. If she doesn't then what would make anything about her different from any other white person that ran for president?
    They all talk the same thing over and over again.
    The country needs to look at racial problems and take action not just words. Question: Does she really have any experience dealling with race issues?
    Other than Bobby Kennedy no other canidate in the past has.
    cool1
  • I have voted for Democrats for president for many years. I voted for Hillary's husband twice. For a long time I preferred Obama, but felt I could be happy with either Obama or Clinton as the candidate. As Hillary has become more negative, my feelings towards her have become more negative. Now I feel she has played the race card by making a big deal out of the Jeriemiah Wright flap. She has made a grave error. When all is said and done, this election is not about her, it is about the future of our country. There is no way I will ever vote for Hillary. She has lost any chance of my support. For my candidate, racial tension is a problem to solve, not a situation to abuse for personal gain.
    stootoo
  • cool1
  • Hillary Clinton is a RACIST.She can't speak on race issues without exposing herself.She feels superior to all Black people,and the fact that she's losing this campaign
    race to a young African American male has her beyond angry.She's in rage.One of her servants has become her MASTER. "Oh my God Bill", what are we going to do now ?
    keithponder
  • http://reddingnewsreview.com/newspages/2006newspages/fu...
    Hillary has already spent enough time addressing racism. We want her to spend more time addressing other issues that confront and confound America, this time less fecklessly and deviously than she's addressed race already.

    http://blackrepublican.blogspot.com/2008/01/hillarys-ra...

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=lkArNDTdYeQ&feature=Play...

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/opinion/11patterson.h...

    http://blackstarnews.com/?c=135&a=4470

    http://www.uppitywis.org/hillary039s-appeal-to-racism-i...

    http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/82695/
    96thdayofrage
  • I don't think Hillary Clinton is a racist. I think she is a politician willing to use 'anything' to get what she wants. She is campaigning with wreckless abandon, not thinking of the consequences. We have already had eight years of being led by a President who governs with wreckless abandon and I personally am hoping for change!
    Conniepae
  • "It is significant that the Clinton campaign used its telephone ad in Texas, where a Fox poll conducted Feb. 26 to 28 showed that whites favored Mr. Obama over Mrs. Clinton 47 percent to 44 percent, and not in Ohio, where she held a comfortable 16-point lead among whites. Exit polls on March 4 showed the ad’s effect in Texas: a 12-point swing to 56 percent of white votes toward Mrs. Clinton. It is striking, too, that during the same weekend the ad was broadcast, Mrs. Clinton refused to state unambiguously that Mr. Obama is a Christian and has never been a Muslim."
    --The Red Phone In Black and White, by Orlando Patterson, NYT March 11, 2008

    That significant observation, coupled with the recent activities of the Clinton campaign surrogates and supporters, already betrays something very negative Hillary needs to address much more than race and racism. Desperation and opportunism resultant from deviant ploys and unconscienable treachery actually scream for some address in the Hillary camp.
    96thdayofrage
  • Of course she should talk about race. Backlash against Obama's campaign and the national freak-out over Rev. Wright's angry rhetoric show that race is still a huge issue in this country.

    Candidates should be talking about the big issues. If they have nothing to say about them, they shouldn't be running for president of these United States. Clinton would not just be the president of white Americans. Obama should talk about gender, too.

    But I agree with Samba: I wouldn't want to hear another carefully parsed, corporate-PR speech about race. That is mostly what we get from Clinton.

    That is mostly what we get in campaigns, period. Campaigns are about winning, not addressing important issues in a meaningful way. The harder it gets to win campaigns, the more campaigns become about winning at the expense of issues and meaning. I think that Obama's campaign has occasionally transcended the game-playing BS. I'm not sure Clinton's has, but race would be a good place to start.
    jontv
  • Guess what, if she does she will talk about Africa or Mexico. They never give the american people what they really need.

    This Sh$t is crazy
    cheche_201
  • I really want Obama to win the election and I don't think Clinton has much chance now. Regardless of the fact that she discusses race or gender, her campaign is coming to a close.

    If she talks about race she could be promoting Obama to win, while if she keeps pushing the gender bit she's going to sound like a broken record. Your pick.

    P.S. Sorry, the webcam response doesn't seem to pick up my mic today.
    Konstantino
  • "Of course she should talk about race. Backlash against Obama's campaign and the national freak-out over Rev. Wright's angry rhetoric show that race is still a huge issue in this country."

    No, it shows that America is still overrun with enough easily frightened xenophobic pinheads scared of any truth spoken openly. I can't see where Hillary's addressing that is going to bring America any closer to resolution, considering her track record with dealing with the issues of race. Folks are going to believe what they want to believe. It's why, no matter what Pastor Wright has said in the past couple months, we're still punishing him for the 3 minute loop taken grossly out of context wherein he invokes God's damnation of AmeriKKKa.

    "Candidates should be talking about the big issues."

    Yeah, like unemployment, high prices, or how that policy scaffolding that has facilitated our current ownership by the Chinese under Bush43 was erected in the 90s by Clinton42. I'd be very impressed if she were to address that, and offer resolutions for turning that situation around.

    http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/election08/163

    "Obama should talk about gender, too."

    Why? Obama has no problems with women or GLBT community. Furthermore, he's a man. When he wins, he'll be the 44th man to hold the Office of President.
    96thdayofrage

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